Turbulence rocks Continental flight
The Reverend
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I don't know what you guys are bleating about? Seems to me like a fairly factual report as seen by a pilot, if you can forgive him mis spelling turbulence. It may have been a slack news day but glad it was missed by the usual press reports.
Looks like moving threads on incidents like this to SLF forums just incurs multiple thread start ups in the Rumors and News forum.
My speed reading thinks that there has been yet another bus plunge.
My speed reading thinks that there has been yet another bus plunge.
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Already being discussed and the original thread was moved to SLF yesterday:
http://www.pprune.org/passengers-slf...al-flight.html
http://www.pprune.org/passengers-slf...al-flight.html
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I notice that the media place a great deal of emphasis on the mayhem and injuries caused by the turbulence, but make very little mention of the importance of seat belts or the fact that the people injured are generally always people who are not wearing their seat belts.
Be it an airplane or a car, you should always have your seat belt fastened unless you absolutely need to leave your seat. I don't understand what compels people to unfasten their belts if they aren't going anywhere; if you're staying seated, why not keep the belt on?
Be it an airplane or a car, you should always have your seat belt fastened unless you absolutely need to leave your seat. I don't understand what compels people to unfasten their belts if they aren't going anywhere; if you're staying seated, why not keep the belt on?
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I notice that the media place a great deal of emphasis on the mayhem and injuries caused by the turbulence, but make very little mention of the importance of seat belts or the fact that the people injured are generally always people who are not wearing their seat belts.
Be it an airplane or a car, you should always have your seat belt fastened unless you absolutely need to leave your seat. I don't understand what compels people to unfasten their belts if they aren't going anywhere; if you're staying seated, why not keep the belt on?
Be it an airplane or a car, you should always have your seat belt fastened unless you absolutely need to leave your seat. I don't understand what compels people to unfasten their belts if they aren't going anywhere; if you're staying seated, why not keep the belt on?
Problem is, no matter how many horror stories people hear (or, to you and me - news on a minor incident in the air), they will always think "it'll never happen to me" and will be lax towards something as simple as keeping your belt on.
Aside from making it against the law to sit in your seat without your belt on whilst in the air, there's nothing that can be done. Experts will continue to say keep your belt fastened. We here on these forums will continue to say "they should've kept their belt fastened". And cabin crew will continue to mention it as part of their safety brief. And the normal Joe Bloggs traveller will continue to unfasten their belt when the sign comes off until they experience the possible consequence of doing so.
Perhaps passengers should be made aware that failure to wear a seat belt may result in reduced compensation should there be an incident.
I don't believe that there is a compensation chart.
I believe its all according to the lawyer arguments with the ultimate judgement being a jury of ignorant citizens with time on their hands or who couldn't get out of jury duty.
frankly if it was me, I would just plead that the belt buckle opened under pressure or I slipped out of it.
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Prior to car seat belts becoming compulsory in the UK, any compensation for an injury resulting from an accident would be reduced by 25% if the occupant was not wearing a seat belt.
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In the airlines I fly with there's always an announcement advising the pax to keep their seatbelts on during the flight even when the 'fasten seatbelt' light is turned off. The majority of the pax don't seem to give a toss about it. Then they complain they've been tossed about.
Seems like such cases of injured pax is a more effective way of getting the message across albeit it being a painful one.
*rant over*
Seems like such cases of injured pax is a more effective way of getting the message across albeit it being a painful one.
*rant over*
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On a BA flight from Amsterdam to Heathrow a couple of years back the captain, prior to departure, made the routine announcement to keep our belts loosely fastened even when the signs were off - and then went on to say "and if you want to know why, turn to page xx of today's Daily Mail" which (apparently, since I'm not a Mail reader 
) contained an article about an incident, very similar to the Continental one, where some Virgin crew and pax had been seriously injured in turbulence.
It got everyone's attention.
13Alpha
) contained an article about an incident, very similar to the Continental one, where some Virgin crew and pax had been seriously injured in turbulence.It got everyone's attention.
13Alpha
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I agree, most prudent Captains these days simply make it abundantly clear to all that turbulence can come out of nowhere, and that any wise passenger would always wear their seat belt when seated, regardless of whether the sign is on or off.
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A pound to a pinch of pig muck that most of the injuries were sustained by cabin baggage
I was on a flight from PHL to ARN last month, and the seat belt light was on for the whole 8 hours. There was a little minor turbulence a couple of times, but no obvious reason for the light to stay on (and no word about it over the PA). If we'd hit real turbulence when I got up to use the toilet after 6 hours, I'd have sued the airline for making me guess when it was safe to get up. Even it I'd lost, it would have been worth it to hear the airline argue in court that I should have stayed strapped in my seat for 8 hours straight.
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"I dont have a good feeling about this flight"
Not sure about other airlines but Emirates has a pretty good PA from the flight deck re seatbelts, something like - we strongly advise you to keep your seatbelt loosely fastened at all times, we certainly will be doing so up front.
On a lighter note, Eddie Izzard has a solution for dealing with passengers who do not listen to safety announcements...
YouTube - Eddie Izzard - Glorious - Plane Safety
On a lighter note, Eddie Izzard has a solution for dealing with passengers who do not listen to safety announcements...
YouTube - Eddie Izzard - Glorious - Plane Safety
light flier
As a rather infrequent flier, less than 200 flights in 55 years, can I make the comment that severe turbulence like described here is very rare (it would prevent many pax ever flying again) and I have never been badly shook up. Ex-business flights are very often sold as part of a holiday with the explicit message that the flight is part of the pleasurable experience. If your holiday starts here, people perhaps aren't keen to be instructed on reading safety cards or keeping in their seats (let alone being told you can't go to the toilet now).
Is it so surprising they behave as they do without recourse to wondering about their intelligence ?
I keep the belt fastened all the time and hate having to go to the toilet, but that is because I don't like flying and don't want the CC to be forming an opinion about me. Ditto watching the safety demo (I will have already read the card and looked for the exits), but I pay attention because I don't want the CC thinking otherwise.
So a handful of people get hurt every once in a while: is that really enough to make this big a deal about the fundamental limitations of your customers or to suppose that they should be scared into keeping in their seats for 3,4,5...10 hours or brow beaten because they want to go to the toilet at an inopportune moment they couldn't have foreseen?
I am sorry about the quality of people you have to accept as customers: I don't like them either, but I am not accepting their money so perhaps that isn't too bad ?
And once and for all: I know how to tie a double bow, just make sure you get the exits open quickly when I need you to.
Is it so surprising they behave as they do without recourse to wondering about their intelligence ?
I keep the belt fastened all the time and hate having to go to the toilet, but that is because I don't like flying and don't want the CC to be forming an opinion about me. Ditto watching the safety demo (I will have already read the card and looked for the exits), but I pay attention because I don't want the CC thinking otherwise.
So a handful of people get hurt every once in a while: is that really enough to make this big a deal about the fundamental limitations of your customers or to suppose that they should be scared into keeping in their seats for 3,4,5...10 hours or brow beaten because they want to go to the toilet at an inopportune moment they couldn't have foreseen?
I am sorry about the quality of people you have to accept as customers: I don't like them either, but I am not accepting their money so perhaps that isn't too bad ?
And once and for all: I know how to tie a double bow, just make sure you get the exits open quickly when I need you to.
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turbulence
As a passenger, I believe that it is ineffective to keep the seat belt sign on all the time, unless it is rough. When the sign is used judiciously, people take more notice. Experienced passengers generally know when to expect turbulence even if there is no announcement by the crew. I always buckle up when traversing the Bay of Bengal for instance. Concerning the severity of turbulence, I think that most once in a while passengers have little idea of how fierce it can be, hence their nonchalance about the seat belt sign. Of course, I was an inexperienced pax once, and found out the hard way - firmly attached to the ceiling (deck-head?) for a few seconds, then the floor. I finally landed on one of the cabin crew, and knocked her out. I had been walking back to my seat when the seat belt sign went on. The aircraft was a Martinair DC10. It was still in the sheds when I left BKK 3 days later.
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There is something which has worried me for the last few years ever since DVT became a popular affliction. (I'm a nurse and definitely NOT belittling the seriousness of DVT). Once it became more recognised passengers were recommended to get up and walk about. Prior to this it was almost, but not quite, forbidden to do so except when necessary - toilet etc. Some flights these days seem almost like an airborne athletics arena with what seems like hordes of passengers roaming free in order to prevent DVT. There are other ways of preventing DVT - exercises which, as in hospital, can be done when seated - something I have always done. It seems to me that this mania for wandering around the aircraft is increasing the danger and risk of injury should turbulence of sufficient intensity be encountered. As others have said, turbulence and other phenomena are not always predictable so would it not be more sensible to return to the idea of remaining seated unless necessary? Perhaps a short video of suitable exercises could be made available on the in-flight entertainment. Just a few of my thoughts on the matter. How do you as crew feel about having so many passengers wandering about? I feel it must surely contribute to an increase in the number of injured persons.
